Monday, October 8, 2007

October 9th MSNBC Debate Should Be Interesting

With Chris Mathews running the thing you can bet there will be a few fireworks. Of course there will also be a lot of stupid questions being asked to.

It will also be the first debate for Fred. Of course we are going to hear how he isn't exciting. I think he will do good. He just don't do things like the rest of them. Of course a lot of people, myself included, have been complaining about the way things are done now. So Fred not following their lead may be a good thing.

Unless the Republican candidates prepare for what’s coming, the winner of their debate tomorrow will be Hillary Clinton. To prevent that result, the candidates have to do what Republicans’ campaign consultants have always prevented: they need to take on the media itself. This debate -- important most to Fred Thompson who is making his first appearance -- will soon be forgotten in the tsunami of campaign interviews, speeches and rubber chicken dinners these gents are trying to surf. Unless. There are two “unlesses” waiting tomorrow: unless the candidates allow moderator Chris Matthews to manhandle them, and unless they seize the opportunity to score with Republican voters on an issue that is lurking behind every debate, every television report and newspaper story. The most important part of the answer -- and not just for tomorrow -- is for the candidates to take on the reporters as much as they take on each other. It’d be great fun, and it would satisfy a great Republican hunger to see some of the media mentionables poked and prodded on their own biases and foibles. Shocking as it may seem, the New York Times got it wrong in its effusive coverage of the Clinton campaign. In a political blog last Friday, Patrick Healy wrote, “No one is a louder, zestier cheerleader for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential prospects than her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe…” The host of tomorrow night’s debate, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, at least equals and sometimes surpasses McAuliffe.Matthews is an over-the-top liberal, a brazen cheerleader for Clinton. He can also be a bully. Remember the incident about two years ago when he reduced Michelle Malkin nearly to tears? And how Zell Miller gained instant hero status for asking Matthews if he wanted to take that discussion outside? To beat Chris Matthews the candidates don’t need to punch him in the nose. But they need to do two things. First, they need to follow Jon Stewart’s example.In what left Matthews squealing that it was his worst interview ever, The Daily Show’s hyperactive (but not hyperliberal) Jon Stewart’s interview of Matthews on his new book not-so-gently poked fun at Matthews’ outlook on life. If -- with humor -- any of the candidates can take a few shots at Matthews and the premise of his questions, they can come out as the winner.